MORNING JOURNAL/ANNA NORRISAvon Mayor Jim Smith along with representatives from the Ohio Department of Transportation and Mosser Construction break ground on the Interstate 90 interchange construction project behind Petitti's Garden Center in Avon yesterday. The construction project is being completely funded by public and private funding.

AVON -- Sixteen years after the project was first proposed, Avon Mayor Jim Smith and other officials broke ground yesterday for the Interstate 90 and Nagel Road interchange.

"I never thought I was going to stand up here and do this after all these years," Smith said as he addressed the audience at Petitti Garden Center, 33777 Chester Road in Avon. "I started wanting this interchange about 16 years ago. I had hair."

Throughout his speech, Smith expressed his frustrations with the long-gestating project to the approximately 125 guests. From the initial proposal of the interchange to the projected completion date, the project will have lasted nearly Smith's entire tenure as mayor.

Advertisement

"We've spent a lot of years trying to get this thing completed," he said. "If I've learned anything in my 35 years as an elected official, it's that we're very similar to what's called a Louisiana crab cage."

"They don't have to put a top on the crab cage, because when one tries to get out, the other crabs grab him by the butt and pull him back in," Smith said.

"That's what we're doing here in Ohio, and if we don't change our attitude and the way in which we do business, we're just like that Louisiana crab cage. Very disturbing."

Smith did, however, express his gratitude to the people who have helped the interchange come to fruition, including his staff, the Cleveland Clinic and The Richard E. Jacobs Group's JG Avon LLC, who will assist Avon in paying for the interchange.

Smith said that from this day, he expects the construction of the interchange to take 18 months. Even though the project is being built by the Ohio Department of Transportation, Smith said city officials will be on site to oversee all of the construction.

As of now, the Cleveland Clinic Avon Family Health and Surgery Center, which is still under construction, will see the most benefits from the new interchange.

"It's one little piece at a time that makes this happen," Smith said. "And the clinic is a major part of the puzzle. The clinic does a lot for this area, I can't say enough good about them."

Smith also expects the interchange to attract commercial and industrial growth in Avon.

"We want to make sure that our companies can move in and out in a fashion that isn't going to harm them," Smith said. "What are the top three cities in northern Ohio you can do business where they're not poking you in the eye the whole way? Avon is in that top three."

Smith's term as mayor ends in 2013, near the expected completion date for the interchange. He said he feels a sense of relief now that the project is finally getting off the ground.

"It's been a long time," he said. "You think you're never going to see the end of it. It's a real good way to go out."